This is part 1 of a 2 part series, There and Back Again: A Geocacher's Tale. You do not have to complete both parts concurrently, but one will take you 'There' and the other will take you 'Back'; but ultimately the choice is yours.
Please check the difficulty rating. This is a multi-stage cache that will take you, through a narrative story, around Bournemouth. When walked by the CO, the total distance was just less than 2 miles, and took between 1hr 15m - 1hr 30m. You will also need a way of accessing the internet for part of the multi. The cache is not at the published coordinates
Before you set out on this narrative multi, you may wish to read the useful information at the end of this description….
And finally, a big Thank You to some familiar names for allowing us to use them in our narrative......
***FTF*** Congratulations cathnphiljones
It was early evening and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien had arrived at his favourite Bournemouth Hotel, as the sky was clear and the sky was growing bright, he decided it was a fine night for a stroll. John often went for short evening walks, his preferred distance was a round trip of 2-3 miles, but he did have a tendency to get lost, often taking a circuitous route out and a direct route home – with a little help from his friends.
Just as he was about to leave, the receptionist, a fine young hobbit by the name of Angelica Brandybuck, called him back. "Mr Tolkien you have had a message left for you from Dabtec, they wanted to let you know that there is a new secret cache hunt in the local area and to be on the look out for many of the local cachers that are abroad tonight – all looking for the cache and all with a different clue. They also said that you might find it useful to count the number of flags on the balcony. Oh, and you know what Dabtec are like for their gadgets, they said it would be handy to take your smartphone with you as one of the local cachers holds the key and they are only contactable via email."
John thanked Angelica, smiled to himself and set out through the carpark. As he reached the exit gate (start coordinates), he saw a gentleman sitting on the wall. “Hey Mr T” said DorsetJohn “How are you?” “Fine, fine”, said J.R.R. “How are you?” “I’m great, just on my way to see if Ms Brandybuck has any messages for me from Dabtec.” “Hmmm”, said Mr Tolkien, “she may very well do” and chuckled to himself. “Are you going to undertake the quest”, said DorsetJohn. “Maybe, maybe not” said J.R.R noncommittedly. “Well", said DorsetJohn "if you are then you just might find it useful to head to St Peter’s church, as I hear Lost2011 knows something and I saw him heading in that direction. Lost2011 is normally a wealth of information – just don’t mention the war!” DorsetJohn then winked and headed off into the hotel, then suddenly stopped, turned around and shouted “I nearly forgot, you will need to seek out and note the initial letter of what Macmillan are doing locally. [Macmillan Lodge closed {C} is what you need] ”
Mr Tolkien spied the flagpoles, noted the number in his book next to Dabtec’s name and then looked across the road and wrote something next to DorsetJohn’s name. He was just about to head off in a westly direction when he saw a familiar face leaning against a telegraph pole. “Good evening” he said. “Wassup”, said Twimp. “Nothing is up” said Tolkien, “I am out for a stroll and have had strange message from Dabtec." "Me too!" said Twimp, "He sent me a text saying, make sure you note the number of stars for the hotel." “Interesting” said Tolkien and made a note. Then he said to Twimp, “I am on my way to St Peter’s church, do you know how to get there?” "There is a short cut through the Graveyard from the end of Parsonage Rd, just keep left past the bus stop, and then cross the road – you can’t miss it.” “Cheers” said Tolkien, “catch you later.” "Unlikely you will as I'm hunting this cache, and tracking down clues, so now I must dash" muttered the Evil puppeteer under his breath, as he waved cheerily.
John, thought to himself 'well, I was planning a stroll', so headed off, following Twimp's directions. On arriving at the churchyard, he walked down the path, passed the old tombs, perused the information board at the bottom of the steps and finally spied Lost2011 carefully examining the Commonwealth War graves near the entrance. “Good evening Lost” “Evening John” said Lost. “You seem to be particularly interested in young Sgt Cooper’s memorial stone”, said Tolkien. “Yes, indeed, I have elected to take part in the quest and I think his age will come in very handy, especially as it is so easy to read; so sad that he died at such a young age don’t you think? Glynrob also said I should make a note of the number of upright Commonwealth War Gravestones in this area, perhaps you should note that down too. Are you questing too?” “Hmmm”, said Tolkien. Lost2011 smiled and said "I must leave you now as I have recently discovered another interesting place that relates to WWII, would you like to hear about it?" Tolkien politely declined but did ask DorsetJohn if he knew the whereabouts of any of the other local cachers? ”Yes, Glynrob waved at me from the local hostelry as I entered the Churchyard, you know the one that is named after a literary resident of this graveyard, and on your way you might wish to take note of a letter on the blue plaque round the corner, the first letter in the 6th row specifically” and with that he left.
Looking westward, John spied his next destination and strode out through the mainchurch entrance, musing to himself as he walked around the corner, 'umm I did miss my second breakfast today, so perhaps a light supper?' He glimpsed a blue sign a little further North, made a note before safely crossing the road to the hostelry. Inside he found Glynrob and the Chilli Monsters. They looked up and saw John and waved him over to the table. “Hi John, out questing?” “Hmmm” said John. “Have you got time for a quick pint? We had heard you were in town and were just debating whether we prefer the Hobbit or Smith of Wootten Major.” “A pint would do very well, and as for the debate, well I think you’ll find that is easily answered, after all, only one has become a movie starring Stephen Fry!“ said John sardonically. They all then had a lovely chat about the joys of questing, and the Chilli Monsters joked that often there was a lot of effort to find a very small attractive thing (hint hint). Mr Tolkien said that this was something he knew ‘precious’ little about. “Well” said Glynrob, “we must be getting along, but you may also find it useful to take note of the 2nd letter of the word that has an eating utensil in it on the monster signs.” “Quite so” said the Chilli Monsters, “you may also find it helpful to walk down and visit the birds in the lower gardens, and en-route check out Franses' number, and add two” and with that they winked conspiratorily and got up to leave. “Birds?” said John, “I am not sure that I know where they are?” “Easy” said Glynrob, “just head out in a southerly direction, then head east on Westover Road” and with that they downed the last of their drinks and left.
Mr Tolkien ordered a light snack, and then left the pub, crossed two roads safely and made his way South, passing several more eateries, before turning left past a row of posh shops. He made a short stop on route to purchase a 'lovely' piece of art from the Gallery, perused the items in the jeweller's window, wrote something in his book then crossed the road safely into the lower gardens. He followed the sound of squawking and soon located the aviary. As he admired the birds, he was suddenly interrupted by Oscar CacheCockatiel. “Hey J.R” she said, “how’s tricks?” “Good”, said John, “and you?” “Good, good, mustn’t tarry though, I am on a quest.” “Really” said John, “how’s it going?” “Not too bad, I’ve counted the number of wooden uncaged birds and worked out which letter appears in both words on the white warning sign about the slope down to the gardens. However, I haven’t yet found DizzyPair and am quite cautious of meeting up with Badcats – if you get my drift, but Dabtec did mention that Dizzypair liked a good tune, so I’m off to the Bandstand.” With that, Oscar CacheCockatiel did up her helmet, jumped on her skateboard and just before she sped downhill, said cryptically “Muscliffe Mouse told me, if you end up near the four horsemen, you should go uphill.”
Mr Tolkien added some information to his notes then he remembered that he had heard a really good RAF Band last year in the Bandstand, so he set off down the hill into the gardens. As he was walking down the slope he saw the bandstand to his left, but there was no one there. 'Umm', he thought, 'time for a break', so he turned right and headed to the bridge to play pooh sticks. He suddenly heard a loud “Hallooo!” and looking up he spotted DizzyPair in a large Pine tree just a little further on behind the concessions stand. “Good evening, Mr T, great to see you in Bournemouth again.” “Good to see you both too, it is a little precarious up there isn’t it?” “No, we’re good” said DizzyPair, “Just trying to get a good vantage point to see if we can see the number of flags on the Sailing Ship on the mural, although having forgotten our binoculars we might have to saunter over there shortly. Are you questing too?”. “Hmm” said Tolkien. “Hmm”, said DizzyPair, “that is a bit noncommittal”. “Hmm,” said Tolkien again, “well, I am a little intrigued actually.” “In that case” said DizzyPair, "you might want to listen very carefully, for I shall say this only once. For the next stage: Take your starting point coordinates and, from the final three digits of the Northings, subtract the number that the Chilli Monster’s suggested you find. For the Westings you need to take the last 3 digits and, to the first digit, add (Glynrob’s number minus Oscar’s number), to the second digit subtract Dabtec’s number and multiply the third digit by Oscar’s number; which should give you a nice Checksum of 36 for all coordinate digits. There you will find some thing that will shine a light on the issue in a very attractive way.” Tolkien thanked Dizzypair and took a seat on the grass and furiously made notes. After a while he looked up and spotted another familiar face next to the Mini Golf Ping Pong table. “Nice evening, Mr Barrett” he said. “Indeed it is” replied Paulbarrett, "Out questing?” “Indeed” said Tolkien, “I have a lot of clues and, having got the checksum correct, I am on my way to the next location.” “Well, if I were you; I would go out the gardens by that handy exit, and I would make a note of the first letter of the measure of distance to the Upper Gardens. I would also look out for a huge red day of the week and make a note of the 6th letter of that word.” “Thank you so much” said Tolkien, “I am glad I ran into you in person, rather than virtually, Ta ta for now.” “Ta ta” said Mr Barrett.
Tolkien strolled on, out of the exit, up the path, towards a huge entertainment complex ahead of him. Following his gps, he thought he saw a familiar figure across the way lurking by a lamppost. 'Ahh, DorsetJohn', he thought, I would recognise that silhouette anywhere. It did not surprise John to see DorsetJohn again albeit fleetingly as he is known for being 'at various points in space and time'..... DorsetJohn was looking furtively around and jumped when John tapped him on the shoulder. “Oh my" said DorsetJohn, "caught between a rock and a hard place.” “really!?” said Tolkien. “Err, well, err I was just trying to stealthily hide the clue that Diz&Dave entrusted me with for the quest” said Dorsetjohn, “I know, perhaps you could help? I have hidden the clue here, can I time you to see how long it takes you to find it?” Tolkien was a little bemused but agreed, deciding it was best to humour DorsetJohn. After a few minutes, Tolkien had an ‘LIGHTBULB’ moment and found the slim, camoflagued hide. He found some information inside: a very modern address and set of coords. He turned around to thank DorsetJohn, but found he had mysteriously disappeared, so he replaced the hide as found. Following the road to the left, around the large entertainment complex, he used his smartphone to get a quick photo of the mural, made a note in his book, and thought to himself, I wonder is that a moon or a golf ball? Then he moved on.
The new coords took John to an interesting monument, which had some surprisingly uninteresting information on it. He heard a cry from above and saw t.a folk sat on a nearby bench. He politely said hello. “Hello”, they said “out questing, us too, we have just stopped for a snack”. It was at this point that John noticed the interesting salad boxes of mixed green leaves that they each held. Tolkien decided not to mention the greens, and just nodded and smiled. “We have a clue; do you want to know what it is?” “That would be very kind” said Mr Tolkien. "You need the first letter of the type of zone that ends near here, and you see that really dull green plaque in front of you, you need the first letter from the 2nd word of the first line. Once you have those you will see there is a safe place to cross the road just behind us and then you can continue up the hill until you get to Upper Terrace road, where a little way up you will find a funky steampunky green box near a shoal of metal fish, way more interesting than this plaque.” Tolkien was intrigued, as he had a secret thing for all things steampunky, he thanked the t.a. folk and followed their directions.
On his way towards the fish, he suddenly spotted the large green box. Next to the box he saw a man with a blue and white football shirt, ahh he thought I bet that is Pompey_Jolliffe. “Good evening Sir" said Tolkien, “would you be the one who goes by the pseudonym Pompey_Jolliffe?" “How did you guess?” said Pompey_Jolliffe, “and you must be John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.” “I am impressed” said Tolkien, "no-one ever knows what the J.R.R stands for.” “Ahh, unusual bits of information like that comes in use if you are a geocacher.” “Indeed”, said Tolkien. “I am gathering some information for the quest from this box, I am looking for a large black letter that is also a double-digit number on the front, apparently this letter will help me contact a local cacher to find the key”. “Curious”, said Tolkien, “I am beginning to understand now why Dabtec said I might need my phone.” “Dabtec said that?" said Pompey_Jolliffe, "damn, that would have been good to know, that was not in his message for me.” “Maybe he just thought that for you 21st Century peeps, it was a given” said Tolkien. “Umm, you could be right” said Pompey. “Oh, do you see the number hidden by the crustacean on the top, you may need that number too.” “I see it” said John. “Good, good, make a note dear boy, now I must run as I need to find somewhere with free wifi – ciao” and with that he wandered off muttering something under his breath about needing a stiff scotch.
Having noted all the information in his book, Tolkien decided to discreetly follow Mr Jolliffe and noticed that he headed quickly down the road, before crossing it and heading back up, away from t.a.folk. John followed, contining up the road, and just after he passed the tropical frogs, he saw P_J cross the road safely and turn right towards the four Horsemen. Recalling, Oscar’s advice, and never one to ignore an omen, Tolkien thought for a second and knew which way to turn, and continued safely on his journey. Suddenly, he heard a banging noise. He looked up and saw Team Gruffalo waving at him, cocktails in hand from a building that looked suspiciously like the Prancing Pony, only more like it belonged in the Wild West rather than Bree. He went in, stepped over a couple of Kayaks, and joined Team Gruffalo. “Hi JR” they said, “can we shout you a whiskey?” “That would be most kind” said JR, “a man on a quest is always in need of sustenance, can I offer you a lemon sherbet?” They got to talking, and Tolkien shared what he had found so far, the Gruffalos’ laughed and said, “Cool, you are nearly there. You just need to head out of here, take a right and as you follow the road around you will see a building that may even hold copies of your work. Around there you may wish to make a note of the 3rd letter of the name of the overly friendly café, the 1st letter of the shop for grownups and the initial letter of the word that describes Vitamin D's type of Lounge. You may also wish to note the number of apostrophe's that have been used in the name of this this very establishment. Are you sure you won’t stay for another one?” John politely refused, he could see the Team were ‘in for the night’ and he wasn’t sure he had the staying power.
Tolkien soon found the aforementioned building but sadly, it was closed. He was not surprised after all this was 21st century and books were no longer à la mode, he mused. Never mind, once I have all the letters I need perhaps I should find somewhere to take a seat, as there seems to be plenty of places to choose from here and some very convenient benches. Then Tolkien looked around him and was soon making notes in his book. He then chose a café at random and took a seat to ponder his strange journey, and all the letter clues from the local eccentrics geocachers. After a few minutes, he chuckled, and gave an uncharacteristically “impish grin”. He then got out his smartphone and accessed his email App and mumbled 'all lower case, no spaces, modern address, send'.
Tolkien was in the middle of his fancy milkshake, when suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder. “Evenin’ Mr T”, said Badcats. “Good evening” said J.R.R carefully, he had always been a little suspicious of Badcats ever since the unfortunate ‘greatest fantasy author ever debate’ – and had not forgiven him for trumping him with that damn Sir Terry quote about evil being destroyed by throwing a piece of expensive costume jewellery into a volcano as less interesting than the possibility that “peace between nations can be maintained by careful diplomacy." But, he thought, one mustn’t hold a grudge. He smiled graciously at Badcats and queried “Out questing?”. “Umm, you could say that. I don’t suppose you have seen Oscar CacheCockatiel near here have you?” “Not near here” said Tolkien, “Any reason?” “Nothing especially, pity though”, said Badcats. “I don’t suppose you noticed the street number of the Turkish restaurant near here?” “No”, said Tolkien, “should I have?” “Oh it's probably not that important” said Badcats, “but you never know do you?” John’s phone vibrated. “Is that milkshake made with ‘real’ milk?” Badcats suddenly enquired. Tolkien was a little thrown off by this sudden change of tack but answered politely saying he had thought it was cow’s milk, but that he hadn’t thought to enquire when he had ordered it and had just assumed. “Umm, assumptions can be dangerous”, said Badcats, “I will just go and check.” John nodded, smiled and went to check his messages.
“Oh, one more thing Mr T” said Badcats suddenly reappearing. “A strange bloke with pointy ears approached me, and said you might find this useful to help you get back”, he handed Tolkien an envelope on which was written ‘For J.R.R Tolkien: There and Back Again: Part 2’. “Happy hunting” and with that he sauntered out of the café.
John returned to his messages, thought for a minute or two, scribbled something down in his notebook, finished his drink, left the café, checked a street number and sat on a bench. He made a few notes and made a quick visit to Certitude.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
“Finally,” he said. "Finally what?", he heard a voice from his right enquire. He looked up, and saw Muscliffe Mouse had joined him on the bench. "Oh, hello", said John, "nothing really", he attempted to bluff! "You've got the final coords, haven't you?", enquired Muscliffe Mouse. "Hmmmm, possibly", replied John, "Have you?" "No, not yet, I'm still waiting for a reply and I sent my message ages ago" replied M.M. "Oh, sorry to hear that" John said, barely suppressing his delight, "well, good luck, but I must be off, possible FTF you know!" And with that he leapt up, and as he set off on his merry way, he turned back to Muscliffe Mouse and enquired "did you check your junk?"
Useful Information
We said it was long!
This is an Urban cache, so please bring a pen and maybe tweezers to extract the log.
- The cache has been placed with the kind permission of Bournemouth Borough Council
- The cache is wheelchair friendly, but for two stops you would have to take a slightly longer way around and use main entrances.
- For St Peter’s you would need to go down Bath Hill and then West to the main entrance and for the lower gardens to the birds and then round towards town to enter via the slopes.
- You do not need to enter any private or commercial property to gain the answers
- The trip ‘There’ is about 2 miles and there are a few short hills.
- The trip back into town is not so circuitous and will be shorter than 2 miles.
And just in case you are interested the link between Tolkien and Bournemouth: http://www.blueplaqueplaces.co.uk/john-ronald-reuel-tolkien-blue-plaque-in-bournemouth-1855#.W2ITZ7gnbIU